How do colors affect purchases?

Have you ever noticed that colors influence your mood? People see color before they absorb anything else. It takes about 90 seconds for them to decide. Moreover, colors can transmit positive or negative emotions and feelings, and people adopt a certain attitude towards the product. Thus, brands are depended upon the color choice. It‘s an instantaneous method for conveying meaning and message without words. Inbound marketing has a special term – Color Psychology that studies influence of color on people. It is one of the most interesting and controversial aspects of marketing that’s based on perceptions. For the past years, color psychology became a hot topic among advertisers, marketing advisers and web designers. Since color is considered to be a form of a non-verbal communication, it plays an important role in our daily lives. Therefore, many retailers hire firms to discover the right color for their logos and website design that will speak to the intended audience. Such research and theory have become a universal norm throughout the design world, and are used as the most powerful method of creating customers appeal.
The special research shows that 80% of colors are absorbed by nervous system and only 20% by vision. That means that color predetermines people’s behavior and feelings. There is a close link between color solution and people’s natural perception. So let’s define its major influence:

• it evokes psychological reaction (underlines the quality, mood, emotional state, creates cold or warm surrounding, reflects seasons, etc.)
• it has a psychological effect (positive or negative)
• it results in feelings (satisfaction, interest, etc.)
• it forms an attitude (gives an evaluation to things and surrounding)

The main idea is that everything that looks attractive grabs attention to the advertising product. So it is rather important to realize the value of color when setting up your business.

We’ve already mentioned that color determines our perception of a product or a website. So let’s see how it influences customer’s behavior. We know that a theory of color has a close connection with cultural and personal associations. Choosing the right color scheme is crucial for your brand. Thus, a correctly picked color gives the following benefits:

• expands the brand’s recognition by up to 80%
• improves the readership by 40%
• increases the comprehension by 73%
• attracts attention to core points
• in 85% becomes a reason why people decide or buy

Color is a motivational business tool. Companies should think about a message they want to convey to the target audience, and then use colors to render it. Here are some tips to help you choose the right color for your brand:

1. Always remember that colors have unlike meanings within different countries and cultures. Research your target audience, its psychology and traditions. Think far beyond your own perceptions.
2. Start by defining the main goals and mission of your business. Sum up the messages you want to communicate to your customers, and then, choose your color.
3. Combine several colors to establish the most effective interaction with your consumers. Make a marketing research and analysis to determine proper color combinations.
4. Remember, that quality and high services provided are still important.

More than that, our mind reacts to color by forming thoughts and emotions. Several studies show that color has a larger impact on us than our mood, and actually can change our buying habits. While perception of color is rather subjective, some color effects have a universal meaning. Here are a few examples of how different colors reach their market:

1. Yellow is psychologically the happiest color and the brightest one for the human eye. It represents: optimism, youth, happiness and sunshine. Thus, it can be used to attract attention and show the clarity.
2. Red is a robust color. It is associated with «stop» and «beware» signs and often used on caution and warning signals. Red is the color of energy, passion, urgency. Mainly applied for total sales.
3. Blueis a calm color that shows creativity and intelligence, and reflects confidence, security, loyalty and productivity. It is usually used by banks, businesses and large corporations.
4. Green is a color of health and nature that often used for relaxation. It represents growth, nature, money, fertility and safety, and is very popular among eco-minded companies.
5. Orange is a bright and warm color, associated with fairness and affordability. It represents fire, sun, fun, warmth and tropical images. Orange increases oxygen supply to the brain and stimulates mental activity. It creates a call to action and thus, it is popular among impulsive people.
6. Black is a contradictory color. From the one hand, it is rather powerful color that represents robust and glossy, and is used for luxury and wealthy products’ promotion. From the other hand, it has a negative meaning connected with blackmailing and blacklisting. A combination of black with another color can give a strong statement. Thus, it is the most suitable color for any design.
7. Purple combines the stability of blue and energy of red. It symbolizes mystery, magic, power and luxury. Purple is often used to portray rich powerful kings, leaders, wizards and magicians. In combination with gold, it can be flashy and reflect wealth and extravagance. It is used for beauty industry and anti-aging products.
8. White symbolizes the simplicity and purity in branding.  It also stands for modernity and honesty. It is often associated with nature and light. Charity and non-profit organizations usually use it to denote something good and positive.

What is more, some brands become so closely associated with their color schemes that people recognize them even if their company names aren’t mentioned. Thus, there’s no doubt that color matters. Do you agree?

If you’d like to apply a color theory to your business, AMgrade is ready to provide you with a unique strategy of Color Branding. Here are the main principles that we use:

1. Color Psychology. We analyze your business goals and then, develop the strategy that helps to convey the core idea through specific colors. We use up-to-date information about customers’ color preferences and consider the classic tendency as well.
2. Color design. AMgrade has a team of qualified web designers who are experts in color design. So we can develop suitable combinations of different colors that will create a WOW effect.
3. Visual impression. We select colors that will attract attention to your brand and make an immediate impression on people. It is vitally important to choose the right color for visual perception, and we are ready to provide you with the best color solution to represent your business.